Health Risks Rise for Medicare Patients in Year After Stroke

Within a year of having a stroke, almost two-thirds of Medicare patients die or wind up back in the hospital, a new research reports.

The findings highlight the need for better valuable care for stroke patients, in the hospital and after they are sent home, experts noted.

"Patients with acute ischemic stroke are at very high risk for recurrent hospitalization and post discharge mortality," told Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, chief of cardiology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and the study's lead researcher.